While You Were Away

So yeah, I had a good time on vacation. It was nice to get away from the “Rat Race” for a while, and do a whole lot of nothing. Little Miss Sunshine and I spent a few days in the mountains of North Carolina, and it was just what the doctor ordered (that is, if I had talked to a doctor about it.) While I won’t get into the details of our anniversary weekend too much, there were some bicycling-related adventures, among other things. On our way out to the mountains, we decided to take advantage of North Carolina’s abundance of vineyards.



This little gem was in Connelly Springs, NC, on some old country road near what we suspected to be a cock-fighting ring (clean thoughts here people.) I didn’t take any photos of said operation, for fear of some meth-head coming out and firing a few shots at us. We ducked down and headed into the winery, and had a nice chat with Mr. Yoder, the proprietor of this fine establishment. This seventy-something year old man had turned his hobby of winemaking into a thriving business, and he was more than happy to show us around.



This wasn’t one of those fancy winerys that you would normally find on a wine-tasting tour. Rather, this guy was basically one step above running this out of his garage. In fact, the building was some kind of old garage. The tour was interesting nonetheless, and we talked about the similarities of his winemaking and my own home-based beer brewing. I could see myself taking this same path one day, especially if my career as a bicycle racer goes down the tubes (which is highly likely you know.) He did have some advanced equipment, such as temperature control devices and a fancy label maker.



Mr. Yoder was kind enough to let us see his behind the scenes operation, and he was more than happy to let us sample everything he had available. He even told us stories about how he came up with the names of his wines, and how he got started in the business. If you're ever out near Connelly Springs, NC, please pay a visit to Raintree Cellars and enjoy some homemade (but licensed for sale in NC) wine. You’ll be glad you did.


While we did visit a few other winerys in the area, I also managed to squeeze in a visit to a local company that manufactures cycling clothing and accessories. Just up the road from Mr. Yoder’s place, we found the worldwide headquarters for DeFeet International, makers of those cool cycling socks we are all addicted to.



Just like the trip that Lunchbox and I took a while back, Little Miss Sunshine and I found this little gem tucked away in an industrial area off the side of Interstate 40 near Hickory, NC. We parked in the lot and saw this small, rather unassuming building in front of us. We decided to barge right in like we owned the place.



While I don’t have a relationship with these people like the one I have with the fine folks at Cane Creek Cycling Components, we still thought we could get in there and be nosey. I had heard that they have a little “outlet store” full of socks and other cycling accessories, so it was worth a shot. We got to the front window, and we were greeted with a rather stern-looking lady that must have been in charge of their security.


DeFeet Front Desk Lady : “Can I help you?”

Me: “Ummmm, hi. We’re here to check out your socks and stuff.”

DeFeet Front Desk Lady: “Sure, come on back.”


And just like that, we were in the building. I didn’t have to mention that I am an unsuccessful bike racer, or that I had a mildly popular blog that is read by people all over the world. Maybe she was expecting us. Or, maybe they just let anyone in. Who knows.

We found this little room inside that had a huge selection of socks, arm warmers, leg warmers, and other things. Even though we have more socks than any one person could ever need, I was still pretty excited. Little Miss Sunshine and I started looking through the selection and filling up our arms with whatever we could carry.



Since I didn’t know anyone there, I was hesitant to ask for a tour of the place. Lunchbox and I got a tour of the Cane Creek facility because I am a sponsored rider (and I use that term loosely), but I really wanted a tour of this place too. Would I have to send these guys a love letter asking them to back my pathetic racing adventures? I didn’t want to wait that long, so we just started wandering around. Some of the people in the offices were looking at us, but no one told us to get the hell out of there. We saw some neat things while we were snooping around.

I bet this thing was fast back in its day.




They had an assortment of old jerseys hanging on the walls, so I snapped a photo of this one:



We started feeling a little bolder, and stepped into the main office, where we were greeted with this cool looking machine:



I gotta say that the trip to DeFeet was a success. I knew we would be able to buy some socks and junk, but I didn’t think we could weasel our way into a tour. Eventually, the lady at the front was more than happy to talk to us about socks, bicycling, and the weather, so I guess we were “in.” At first, she was guarding the place like a frontier soldier, but she must have fallen under the spell of my awesomeness. Either that or Little Miss Sunshine made her feel like we weren’t a couple of douchebags. She does have a way of charming people. I guess that means that I am welcome back there again if I want to go. In the meantime, maybe I can write them a love letter and see if they can hook me up. You never know.

Things to Come

I’ve mentioned that there are a lot of events I plan on doing this year, so I figured I would cover the next two on the calendar. First, I’m planning on spending a significant amount of time in the saddle of my road bike for a “training ride” (as the promoter calls it.) Next month, I’m hitting up the 10th annual CSC Winter Training Ride. What, a winter training ride in the spring? Well, the date has been moved from its original one in February, and I hear that it is now being billed as a “spring” training ride. It is the 10th annual, but my first. There are distances of 30, 55, and 70 miles, which is geared towards cyclists of all abilities. Since I am a mid-pack kind of cyclist, I’ve chosen to do the 55 mile version. It will be my longest road ride ever, but I’m not too worried about it since there will be plenty of support and rest stops (should I choose to rest.)

I’ve been trying to talk the Dirty Party Cycle into joining in on the fun, and I hope I’m successful. He hasn’t had the chance to ride in a group, and I know he will enjoy it. My buddies Patrick and the MadSS don’t have road bikes, so I don’t suppose they would want to play along. That would be hell to ride a mountain bike that far on the road. This should be good fun, and it will be a nice tune-up for my next adventure the following weekend:




Yep, I signed up for six hours of torture, I mean the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. I’m attempting to do this one solo, and I have no idea why. I guess it’s because I want to see how far I can push myself, or to see if my legs will fall off. It should be an adventure, riding in the “real” mountains you know. That was part of the reason I did the hell-ride this past Sunday. I have to prepare somehow. Although I may never truly be ready for that kind of endurance race, at least now I know that I should eat before and during the race. I’m sure that Little Miss Sunshine will hook me up with a cooler full of food for the event. I’ll probably pack some beer too (you know me.)

Here is a video of last year’s race:





Pretty cool, huh? It should be fun, if I don’t die. Lots of people from our local mountain biking community will be there, so at least I’ll see some familiar faces. Patrick, the MadSS, and a slew of others have signed up, so we can shoot the shit when we pass each other on the course (or they just pass me.) This will be the first time that I will travel so far to race, but I promised myself that I would get out of town for at least one this season. It is being held at the Kerr Scott Trail System, which if you recall I’ve ridden before (just not that particular trail.) Of the three trails out there, I’ve done Dark Mountain and the Overmountain Victory Trail. Patrick, The DPC, MadSS, and I are planning on heading up there for a little recon action very soon. I don’t care about doing a lot of miles there when we go, but I do want to at least ride it once. I’m sure I’ll be plenty familiar with it after six hours on race day. So fun.


Just so you don’t wonder where the hell I am, you won’t find any new stuff on here for a few days. Little Miss Sunshine and I are getting the hell out of Dodge to celebrate our anniversary, so there will be no new posts from me for a while. I probably won’t even bring my computer, since Little Miss Sunshine might catch me checking my blog stats, shopping for bike parts, or something else like that. The plan is just to get away for some “alone time.” Lunchbox will be hanging out with the Dirty Party Cycle for the weekend, so hopeully they won’t get into too much trouble. They’ll probably be hitting up some sweet singletrack while we’re gone. Awesomeness! See y’all next week sometime.

On The Road Again

For the next month or so, I’ll be working at a different location. Why is this important? Well, I do this every so often, and usually it puts a damper on my lunchtime training. This time however, it’s different. I know I mentioned da udda day that I was giving up the X-Bike. While it was a decision I made on purpose, this time I have no choice since I’m so far away from it. Good riddance, I say.


What do I do now? Well, at this “new location”, I’m able to get more real bicycle time in. I am close to a couple of trails, and there is also a business park nearby that has plenty of roadie action going on. Wow, that means I actually have a choice. No more riding in place for an hour every day. I can go outside and pedal, while the scenery passes me by. That’s what cycling is all about (for me anyway.) While I have no real “training plan” (do I ever?), I do have a rough outline to follow.


Every day I’m here that has nice weather (i.e. no rain/snow), I will ride my bike. Which one, you ask? Well, that depends on what I bring to work that day. I will switch them up at will; willingly of course. Yesterday I started out riding the road bike, since we had rain on Monday. The next time the trails are dry, I’ll bust out the mountain bike. I imagine that I will ride on trails more than I ride on the road while I’m here. I’d like to save the major roadie stuff for charity rides and after-work summertime hammerfests. Delicious.


So, like I said, yesterday I brought the road bike with me. The plan was to slowly spin until the legs warmed up, and then let ‘er rip. The business park loop is nice, since I will never be more than 1.5 miles from my starting point. That way I can blow up or have some kind of mechanical issue, and not be stranded. It’s a win win, I tell ya. Anyway, I was hoping that my legs had recovered from the hell-fest I did a few days ago. After the first two miles, I realized that they had. Much to my delight, I had plenty of power to mash up the climbs, and spin fast on the descents. I was settling back into the roadie groove, whatever the hell that is.


I was a little worried though, and not about my legs. I still have this fear of spoke-breaking, and it haunts me with every stroke of the pedal. I’ve had the damn wheel repaired twice, and I’m hoping I don’t need to get to three. I’m not sure when I’ll ever get over that silly fear, but I wish I would soon. I have a big road ride next month (more on that later), and I’d like to stay off the sag wagon.



Since I neglected to bring any type of timekeeping device with me on the ride, I ended up cutting my ride a little shorter than I normally would. I was planning on twenty miles, and I ended up a hair over fifteen. I thought it was time to get my ass back to work, but I actually could have done the full twenty. Next time I’ll wear a watch.



So, I guess it’s safe to say that things are starting to shape up around here. After a grueling race series, it’s nice to do some quality miles on the road bike. I could never give up mountain biking to ride soley on the road, but it is a great training aid. I need all the help I can get. I have a lot of stuff in the works this season. I’ll waste your time with that tomorrow.

It’s Over Johnny

With the 2010 Winter Short Track Series coming to a close on Saturday, I was left wondering what was next. While attending the after-race series party at East Boulevard Bar and Grill, I got word that there was a planned ride at the U.S. National Whitewater Center on Sunday morning. Some guys from the Carolina Bicycle Company were planning on hitting the trails out there, so a few of us were coaxed into tagging along.


After a few phone calls, we decided to meet up at around 10:00 a.m. I left the house pretty early, hoping that my early arrival wouldn’t keep anyone waiting. When I got to the trailhead, the MadSS was already on the scene. Moments later, Patrick showed up. By the way, he really needs a “handle” for this blog, other than the obvious “faster than me on most days.” That’s just too many words to use for someone’s nickname. Anyway, they started to get ready for a “fun” ride.



Next on the scene was the Dirty Party Cycle. After I let him know about the ride the night before, he left me a message stating that he wasn’t so sure about hanging with the race team at the lovely Catawba trails. I concurred, and relayed to him what the MaddSS told me. He said that we will just try to “hang on” and hope for the best. That’s all we could do, since those team guys were so fast. The DPC started to get ready too.



I was ready too, except for the fact that I neglected to do something before I got there that I would regret later on. More details to follow.



We all huddled up to plan our ride.



The Carolina guys showed up, and we headed across the parking lot to have a chat with them. The fastest guys they had were all present and accounted for, so I thought that we might be in for some pain. I was concerned, since I had only been riding short distances in the well, Short Track Series. What the hell did I get myself into? We decided to head out on the trail ahead of those guys, knowing full well that they would catch up quickly. Our plan was to ride as fast as we could.

We hit the trail at a moderate speed, trying to loosen up as we went along. It was so nice to ride a “real” trail, since the short track was not really technical at all. The faster we went, the happier I was that I was no longer riding the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth anymore. Goose seemed to flow with the trail. Now if I could only get my legs to follow.


We pushed our speed, and stopped every so often to regroup and also to take turns leading. My “race pace” was far from that of the MadSS, but he showed us a little mercy every now and then. Since he was riding a single speed, we thought that we should have been able to keep up. That was not the case. Maybe there is something to this single speed thing. And by the way, the Carolina guys passed us rather early on, looking like a big blurry orange train. That was disheartening, to say the least.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t too winded after the first lap. Sure, it hurt to climb some of the steep inclines there, but I didn’t have a lot of trouble. About 3 miles from the end of the first lap, I had already finished my water bottle. At this point, it was just the DPC and I. Patrick got way up ahead, and part of that may have been because he missed one of the smaller loops. I nearly missed it too, but I turned around to make sure I hit it. I was out there to push my limits, so I didn’t want to short change myself. The DPC and I hurried through the last bit of trail to the parking lot, and we all met up again. We refilled our water, and decided to do another lap at a “slower” pace. When we headed back out, I took the lead. Instead of a slow pace however, I pushed it pretty hard. We were all stuck together like a pack of wolves, so I thought that my pace was okay. Patrick did make a comment that we were supposed to be doing a slower lap, but the MadSS said the pace was good. I probably should have slowed down. At the end of the first loop, the MadSS took the lead again. We all tried our best to hang on, but it was useless.


When we all stopped to regroup again, I noticed that my hamstrings and my right quad had started to cramp a little. I tried to ignore it at first, and then I started punching my leg in a desperate attempt to alleviate the pressure. We started back up again, and it only got worse. On one of the climbs, my legs just quit. I nearly fell over onto the trail, and the DPC almost ran over me. I stopped and stretched for a bit and had a gel shot. I felt better, but I knew it was a matter of time before it happened again.

I finally caught up to the group (they stopped to wait), and I told them about my malfunctioning legs. I told them to go on, and that I would cut out some of the loops as necessary to make sure I made it out alive. Patrick was down for more punishment, so he took off after the MadSS. The DPC stayed back with me, agreeing with my much slower pace. I would finish the ride without anymore cramps, but I knew I was nearly spent. I needed this kind of punishment to get me up to speed, so I didn’t really mind the pain. The problem was that I neglected my nutritional needs, and my body was protesting. Another lesson learned I guess.


When we got back to the parking lot, everyone was waiting. The DPC and I had taken a “short cut”, and it turned out to be muddy hell (one of the few spots.) I even took a soil sample with my bike.





Little Miss Sunshine was waiting for us, dressed and ready to go. She wanted to ride the new Green Loop, so I made sure to eat before we left. I had to have enough energy to do a few more miles with her, since she was kind enough to meet us out there.



Patrick had to hit the road, and the nearly-insane MadSS decided to hit another full lap. I think the DPC was nearly as spent as I was, so he opted to hang with Litle Miss Sunshine and me for some Green fun. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.


Can we go already?

The Green loop was fun, and my cramps were gone. Sure, my legs were tired, but I enjoyed our fun ride. Little Miss Sunshine displayed some excellent bike handling skills, and I could hear her laughing most of the way. Since this was a slower pace than our previous “death march”, I was able to whip out the camera.





When we finished, the DPC and I were nearly dead, but LMS was rip-roarin’ and ready to go. She would have done another lap if we were down for it. By the time we got back to the parking lot again, the MadSS was waiting after his lap (I don’t think he’s human.) We all decided to head to the restaurant to partake in some food and beverage. It was well-earned, and I stuffed myself. Next time I’ll eat before I ride.



What a day. I'm still a little sore from it, but it's a good kind of sore. Maybe I'll take the road bike out today for a little punishment. See you tomorrow.

Finish Line

Yes, I crossed it. Not where I wanted to be, but at least I got out there and did it. The 2010 Winter Short Track Series is over, and I survived. It was a rude awakening for me for sure, but I learned a lot in the process. Mostly I learned that no matter how much inside riding I do, I will never be able to get into any kind of “racing shape” with that kind of riding alone. Although I had no choice due to weather and scheduling conflicts, I did what I could. Now I’m happy to say that I don’t plan on riding indoors for a long time. F you, X-Bike. Hopefully next winter I can come up with a better training plan.


Race five was on Saturday, and it was more of the same for me. The only saving grace was the fact that we had nice weather. It wasn’t too cold, and the trails had been rain-free for a few days. Even though I thought the trail condiitons would be better this week, I opted not to bring out the good bike, Goose. I would go out in a blaze of glory on the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth. This bike has been less than great for me for this series, but it hasn’t been the only reason I suffered. I learned some hard lessons, but they were valuable lessons to say the least.


I arrived on site early Saturday morning, and there were a lot more people there this time. I took a couple of warm up laps, and I really liked the trail conditions. There were a few sloppy spots, but overall it was pretty fast. I pulled up to the start line, and planned on my usual middle-of-the-pack strategy. I would take off at a moderate pace, and hang on.



When the race started, I got on the trail in about mid-pack (just as planned). I followed the group pretty well, and enjoyed the speed and non-muddiness of the trail. The swooping downhills and turns were fast, and I was able to handle the bike pretty well. When I came out of the trail on the first lap, I felt pretty good. I took the fire road climb at a decent speed, actually shifting the gears as I moved up the hill. This would be short-lived, however. I passed the start/finish line in roughly the same position as I started.



Lap two sucked the big one. About halfway through the trail, I started to get some kind of cramp in my stomach. I had been feeling a little shitty the day before, so I thought that maybe I had eaten something that didn’t agree with me. I pressed on, but so did the pain. I came out onto the fire road, and that’s when it hit me hard. Some of the people behind me now had a chance to get by. I had no choice but to back off a little and let them go, but I wondered if I could hang on for the whole race. By this time the pain had spread to my right side. I crossed the line after lap two, and I just wanted it to be over.



As lap three went on, I started to feel better. I wasn’t out of breath for once, and I chalked that up to a good warm-up. As the pain slowly went away on the third lap, I pressed on. I ramped it up a bit to gain some ground, but the pack had left me. There were some other racers behind me, but I wasn’t too worried. If I could maintain my current speed, I wouldn’t be in any danger of losing more ground. I had dug myself a pretty big hole though. Lap three was over, and I began picking up a little speed.



On lap four, I began to feel “normal”, whatever the hell that was. About halfway through the trail, a buddy of mine in the next class came up on my rear wheel. I let him go by, and I tried to stick with him. That actually helped me, and we kept each other going. I let him pull me around through the rest of the race, picking up speed the whole time. At this pace, I was destined to finish ahead of the rest of the group. When the “final lap” announcement was made, we picked it up. I stuck to him like glue, up until the fire road climb. He turned around and said, “Is that still you, Chris?” I said “Yup, and on your right.” I passed him on the final climb, and told him to hang on. I pulled him up to the finish line, where we came in with a pretty good sprint.



When it was all said and done, I managed an 18th place finish, out of 26 riders. While it wasn’t my best performance, I was somewhat pleased. The start to my season has been pretty rough, and I was glad that this series was over. As usual, I hung around to help with volunteer duties, and to watch the rest of the races. I spent some time on the trail, standing by in case some first aid assisitance was needed.


That part of the day turned out to be pretty busy. There were several injuries. One of the junior riders had what I suspected to be a broken arm, a female rider sustained a face injury, and one of the Super-Sport guys hurt his collarbone. The last two of these required outside medical assistance, since I am merely a first responder. The kid with the alleged broken arm should have gotten medical attention, but I’m not sure if he ever did. As far as I know, everyone will be fine. The course had gotten much faster throughout the day, so I can imagine that there were more crashes than that. I can’t be everywhere at once, you know.

We ended this day with a trip to East Boulevard Bar and Grill for the awards ceremony. Lunchbox and I chowed down on some appetizers and I enjoyed a good ol’ Sweetwater 420. While I didn’t do well enough in the series to merit any kind of award (there’s no award for suckitude), it was nice to close out the series with a little party. A few of us even discussed riding plans for the next day. I’ll fill you in on that one tomorrow.

Season Finale

Tomorrow is the final race in the 2010 Winter Short Track Series of misfortune, and I have mixed feelings about it. First and foremost, I’m happy to be able to get out and race again, even though it’s been filled with suckitude (for me anyways.) What I haven’t enjoyed is the hours I’ve spent washing the mud out of my clothes, cleaning and maintaining my bike, and the realization that neither I nor the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth has been ready for this grueling series.


I fully suspected that I wouldn’t be in “racing shape” so early in the season. I didn’t really prepare very well in the “offseason” either, other than I drank a lot of beer. Also, I had a feeling that the P.O.S. I threw together at the last minute and called a bike would disappoint me. Yes my friends, the Greatest Short Tack Bike on Earth was a failed experiment, but I will press on. I do have some hope that The Big O will have much better results though. Of course, I thought that the Greatest Piece of Shit on Earth would fare much better than it did, but hey, at least I learned a lesson. You can build a bike two ways: right, and right now. I chose the latter and paid dearly for it.


Although I somehow doubt it, the weather gurus around here are predicting some sunny goodness for this weekend, although it will still most likely be cold. We had a little rain earlier in the week, but it has been dry so far. Maybe the trail will dry out and be in nice shape for the season finale. I’m not sure if I can handle myself out there with no mud. It will be fun either way I guess. I may do what I did last week and bring both bikes, deciding at the last possible moment which one to ride. I worked on both of them last night to get them back into riding condition, so I shouldn’t have any issues. I checked and double-checked the drivetrain, brakes, and everything else I could think of. I even gave Goose a hug to make him feel better.


Looking forward, there are a few things on the horizon. The month of March is relatively event-free, so maybe I can get some quality saddle time without the demands of a race bearing down on me. If the weather warms up a bit, we’ll resume the regularly-scheduled Tarheel Trailblazers Kids Ride. I miss those, and I’m sure the kids do too. Other than that, I’ll be pulling stuff out of my ass to put here on the blog the next few weeks. Hang in there, as things could get real messy around here. See y’all Monday.

The Big “O”-nnouncement

So, you came here today to find out what the big deal was. I got some new stuff, right? Big deal, everyone gets new stuff. Hell, I cleaned up at Christmas. What more could I want? I’m glad you asked. Well, I asked for you, but whatever. Wait, am I talking to myself here? Probably so.


Well, I finally gave in to the constant peer pressure from my shop, my friends, and some anonymous (to me) people out on the Internets. Since the Greatest Short Track on Earth was such an epic fail, I am giving big wheels a try. Not a Big Wheel, but a 29er bicycle. An anonymous commenter guessed yesterday that I got a 29er singlepeed, and I flat-out denied it. I only denied it because he or she was only half right. I love having gears too much to go with the singlespeed thing. I imagine I’ll give into that one some day too. I’m a sucker for punishment, and singlespeeders seem to be all about that.


So, what the hell did I get anyway? Anyone who’s been around here for a while knows how much I love I have for Diamondback Bicycles, so you can probably guess that my foray into 29 inch wheeled bikes would include them. Well, you would be correct. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Big O, or my new Diamondback Overdrive frame.



(Cat tree not included.)




I didn’t just grab this frame because it’s a Diamondback, mind you. While that had a lot to do with it, there are a few more reasons to it than that. First, I got a hell of a deal on the frame. I couldn’t pass it up, no matter how hard I tried. Second, who wouldn’t fall in love with these sexy curves?



Okay, maybe that’s not such a good reason to start riding 29ers. However, this next tidbit of information was good enough for me. Are you aware that back in 1992, Diamondback Bicycles was one of the very first companies to roll out a big-wheeled bike, also called the Overdrive? Yes, they get zero points for name originality. While it took off like a lead ballon back then, they were able to resurrect it two years ago and get with the times. The Overdrive would probably be considered an “entry-level” 29er, and that’s okay with me since I would be considered an “entry-level” 29er rider. A match made in heaven.


Also, there have been plenty of good reviews for this bike, even from “respectable” people.

Here is one from Guitar Ted.

And the follow-up.

Here is one from Bicycling magazine.

This is from some random website I pulled out of my ass (and coincidentally was “borrowed” from Guitar Ted’s website.


One thing stuck out in the last review: The Overdrive Pro represented a new class of 29″er: The “Under Grand Group.” I guess that means you don’t have to spend a ton of money to ride a big-wheeled bike. I’m all about that one. Besides, this is yet another experiment for me, and I hope it doesn’t end in failure like the Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth. Only time will tell.


Since I only have a frame in my possession, I’ll be building this one up from scratch. Sure, I’ll reuse some of the not shitty parts from The Greatest Short Track Bike on Earth, but I am still in need of some 29er-specific parts, such as a fork and wheels. I may go a little cheap on those at first, since I have no idea if I will like riding on clown wheels. Also, I have some upgraded parts (that I felt weren’t good enough for my current P.O.S. hardtail) on standby. There will be no shitty v-brake action on the 29er either, since I have a nice set of hydros for it. What a relief that will be.


So, what will it look like when it’s done? I don’t know for sure, but here is what it would look like if you purchased it from the shop, so you have some kind of idea:


Image "borrowed" from Diamondback's display at Interbike.

Hopefully when I build it, it won’t have such shitty parts, although it is a possibility. The only thing I may skimp on for now would be the fork, but I am looking for a helluva deal somewhere. Also, this thing won’t be built overnight. I plan on taking my time to find the right stuff to put on it, so I will keep everyone updated as I go along. While I realize that it won’t make me any faster, it looks like it could be fun. One thing for sure, it will have gears and a squishy fork…for now.